OND Editors OND is a community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
OND Editors consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you.
BBC:NSA leaks: Obama hints at surveillance rethink
NSA leaks: Obama hints at surveillance rethink
US President Barack Obama has suggested there may be a review of surveillance by the National Security Agency in the wake of a series of spying revelations.
He said in "light of disclosures that have taken place" and public concerns about the programmes "there may be another way of skinning the cat".
But Mr Obama said ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden had caused "unnecessary damage" by leaking documents.
He declined to say whether or not Mr Snowden could be offered an amnesty.
BBC:Khodorkovsky arrives in Germany after Putin pardon
Khodorkovsky arrives in Germany after Putin pardon
Russian ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has arrived in Germany, hours after being pardoned by President Vladimir Putin and freed from a decade in jail.
In a statement Mr Khodorkovsky, 50, confirmed he had asked Mr Putin for a pardon due to "family circumstances" - his mother is suffering from cancer.
He did not admit guilt and referred to those who were "unjustly convicted and continue to be persecuted" in his case.
Mr Putin earlier said he had signed the pardon on "the principles of humanity".
BBC:Mexican president signs controversial oil and gas law
Mexican president signs controversial oil and gas law
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has signed a controversial law that allows foreign companies to drill for oil for the first time since the sector was nationalised in 1938.
The legislation was passed by Congress on 13 December and ratified by a majority of Mexican states.
President Pena Nieto says the reform will help Mexico attract the investment needed to boost its falling oil output.
The opposition says it damages national interests.
BBC:South Sudan crisis: Deadly attack on UN base condemned
South Sudan crisis: Deadly attack on UN base condemned
The UN mission to South Sudan has condemned Thursday's attack on its base in which two Indian peacekeepers and at least 11 civilians were killed.
Unmiss said the perpetrators of the "heinous crime" in Akobo, Jonglei state, must be brought to justice.
A similar attack is feared at another UN base where several thousand armed youths are reported to have gathered.
Clashes began in South Sudan when President Salva Kiir accused his ex-deputy of a failed coup a week ago.
BBC:Pakistan: Former President Pervez Musharraf speaks out
Pakistan: Former President Pervez Musharraf speaks out
Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf has spoken publicly for the first time since he was put under house arrest earlier this year.
In interviews given to two television channels on Thursday night, he defended his actions during his nine-year rule.
The former president faces charges of murder and restricting the judiciary.
He has been granted bail in all cases, but has been summoned to a court hearing next week to face another charge of high treason.
BBC:China rejects US corn on fears over genetic modification
China rejects US corn on fears over genetic modification
China has rejected 545,000 tons of imported US corn found to contain an unapproved genetically modified strain.
An unapproved strain called MIR162 was found in 12 batches of corn, China's product safety agency said.
China backs genetically modified crops to increase food production, but has faced opposition from critics who question their safety.
The agency called on US authorities to tighten controls to ensure unapproved strains are not sent to China.
Reuters:Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer
Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer
(Reuters) - As a key part of a campaign to embed encryption software that it could crack into widely used computer products, the U.S. National Security Agency arranged a secret $10 million contract with RSA, one of the most influential firms in the computer security industry, Reuters has learned.
Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show that the NSA created and promulgated a flawed formula for generating random numbers to create a "back door" in encryption products, the New York Times reported in September. Reuters later reported that RSA became the most important distributor of that formula by rolling it into a software tool called Bsafe that is used to enhance security in personal computers and many other products.
Undisclosed until now was that RSA received $10 million in a deal that set the NSA formula as the preferred, or default, method for number generation in the BSafe software, according to two sources familiar with the contract. Although that sum might seem paltry, it represented more than a third of the revenue that the relevant division at RSA had taken in during the entire previous year, securities filings show.
The earlier disclosures of RSA's entanglement with the NSA already had shocked some in the close-knit world of computer security experts. The company had a long history of championing privacy and security, and it played a leading role in blocking a 1990s effort by the NSA to require a special chip to enable spying on a wide range of computer and communications products.
Reuters:Hunting for U.S. arms technology, China enlists a legion of amateurs
Hunting for U.S. arms technology, China enlists a legion of amateurs
SEATTLE - In its quest to bypass embargoes and obtain the latest U.S. military technology, China isn’t only relying on a cadre of carefully trained spies.
It’s also enlisting a growing army of amateurs.
Their orders come indirectly from the Chinese government and take the form of shopping lists that are laundered through companies with ties to Beijing.
The recruits who buy the weapons and system components for those companies are scientists, students and businessmen, and they appear to be motivated more by profit than ideology. As one U.S. Homeland Security official put it, the Chinese “flood the zone with buyers” - a strategy that significantly complicates U.S. efforts to stop the flow of American armaments to China.
Reuters:The U.S. government lab behind Beijing’s nuclear power push
The U.S. government lab behind Beijing’s nuclear power push
The Chinese military-industrial complex wanted to master the science for an alternative nuclear reactor. So, it turned to a storied American institute.
HONG KONG - Scientists in Shanghai are attempting a breakthrough in nuclear energy: reactors powered by thorium, an alternative to uranium.
The project is run by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government body with close military ties that coordinates the country’s science-and-technology strategy. The academy has designated thorium as a priority for China’s top laboratories. The program has a budget of $350 million. And it’s being spearheaded by the influential son of a former Chinese president.
But even as China bulks up its military muscle through means ranging from espionage to heavy spending, it is pursuing this aspect of its technology game plan with the blessing – and the help – of the United States.
Reuters:Insight: How U.S. spying cost Boeing multibillion-dollar jet contract
Insight: How U.S. spying cost Boeing multibillion-dollar jet contract
(Reuters) - Dilma Rousseff was thoroughly charmed.
Brazil had been struggling for years to decide which company to choose for a $4 billion-plus fighter jet contract, one of the world's most sought-after defense deals and one that would help define the country's strategic alliances for decades to come.
But Rousseff, the leftist president known for being sometimes gruff and even standoffish with foreign leaders, was thrilled after a 90-minute meeting in Brasilia on May 31 with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
After Biden's reassurances that the United States would not block crucial transfers of technological know-how to Brazil if it bought the jets, she was closer than ever to selecting Chicago-based Boeing to supply its fighter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
"She's ready to sign on the dotted line," one of her senior aides told Reuters at the time. "This is going to happen soon."
Reuters:BOJ hails Fed tapering, sticks with its own massive stimulus
BOJ hails Fed tapering, sticks with its own massive stimulus
(Reuters) - Japan's central bank held its massive monetary expansion unchanged on Friday, and played down chances of the need for an extra dose next year as it took heart from the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to begin tapering its own mega-stimulus.
Speaking after a Bank of Japan policy-setting meeting, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda welcomed the Fed's move as a sign that the U.S. economy is recovering steadily, which bodes well for global growth and Japan.
Kuroda also played down the likely impact of a planned increase in Japan's sale tax in April on the economy, saying the country was on course to meet the BOJ's 2 percent inflation target in two years to decisively exit from a long phase of debilitating deflation.
The widening interest rate gap between Japan and the United States, as the BOJ maintains its ultra-easy policy while the Fed winds down its stimulus, is likely to keep the yen weak against the dollar, analysts say.
Reuters:Japanese government to bear more Fukushima cleanup costs for Tepco
Japanese government to bear more Fukushima cleanup costs for Tepco
(Reuters) - Japan will chip in more taxpayer money and other financial support to help Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co clean up the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century, officials said on Friday, the latest government lifeline for the embattled utility.
Criticism of the utility's handling of the massive clean-up from the March 2011 disaster had sparked calls to spin off Fukushima-related work and place it under government control or even put Tepco, as the company is known, into bankruptcy.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, however, has instead opted to provide fresh financial support while backing an internal Tepco restructuring due to what experts termed reluctance to face legal responsibility for the disaster or risk ripple effects on the wider power industry.
"I want to address vital issues by making clear the roles of Tepco and the government and make concrete the path to rebuilding the lives of victims and affected local governments," Abe said at a meeting to finalize the new steps.
LA Times:Target faces lawsuits, state probes after customer data breach
Target faces lawsuits, state probes after customer data breach
Instead of basking in holiday cheer, Target Corp. is spending the crucial shopping days before Christmas dealing with probes from several state attorneys general, infuriated social media comments and customer lawsuits over a massive data breach.
In a rough year for retail, when consumers are already hesitant to splurge, the fiasco is fast becoming a nightmare.
"There's never a good time for this to happen," said Charles O'Shea, an analyst with Moody's Investors Service. "But if there's a worse time than during the holidays, I'd like to know what it is."
Target — one of the country's largest retailers — is facing accusations that it waited too long in disclosing that its system had been hacked, exposing some 40 million of its customers' credit and debit card accounts. The Minneapolis company waited until Thursday to confirm that a break-in occurred between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15.
The information was then downplayed on the retailer's website, tucked out of view at the very top of the page.